I live in the city and all around my home new buildings are being constructed. Walking one morning, I stopped to watch a crane in action. What I saw was elegance and purpose at work, and it was exquisite.
What does a building site crane have to do with elegance and purpose?
As I watched the crane, I got to feel how it works: slow, purposeful, unhurried, and focussed. It lifted large heavy items, gently and precisely placing them where they needed to go. This to me was beauty in motion.
It was very easy to feel how different this picture would be if the driver was in a hurry, distracted, rushing to get something done, tired, tense or even trying too hard… this would be seen, felt and magnified in every movement of the crane, immediately. Instead of seeing elegance and purpose at work, I would have been watching something rough and even dangerous.
Because of its sheer size, a crane cannot help but magnify the quality in which the driver operates it.
I found myself imagining how uncomfortable it would be to see something that large working in a zippy, rushing way, yet this is exactly how I can operate in my day to ‘get things done’. Standing there, I could feel how much havoc I can wreak on the worksite of my life and upon all those I share it with when I move and operate in a rush, and with nervous energy.
It is easy to see how bumping into things as a human being can leave me with a bruise, a scratch or a cut: on the level of a crane, these same bumps can be disastrous, costly and even deadly. The crane driver knows he is responsible not just for moving things from A to B, but for moving them safely, carefully and efficiently within a busy worksite, without bumping or damaging anything or any one of the many workers around the site.
On the human level, it is much easier to brush off the bumps, bruises or spilling consequences of rushing and just keep going; when on the crane level these consequences are followed with an immediate stop and investigation.
Living even just one day with this level of accountability for the way I move might just explain how I can reach the end of some days feeling battered and messy without really understanding why.
Rushing seems to get things done, but if the crane driver followed this theory, it would show that the opposite is true: rushing makes a mess, effectively slowing things down when the intention is to speed them up.
Elegance and purpose are a crane driver’s only way of operating. There is much beauty to feel and see in this level of commitment, awareness and care in action. It is an unexpected reminder of how I can move and conduct myself with this same elegance and purpose in my own body in the ‘work site’ of my daily life.
Inspired by the work and movement of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine.
By Adrienne Hutchins, Funeral Director, Brisbane, Australia
Further Reading:
Stillness
The Nature of Energy: A Bathtub Lesson
Rush Rush Rush
903 Comments
Delicacy and precision in operating a crane calls for conscious presence.
I was drawn to read this blog again today for the sheer joy that moving in purpose with precision and grace brings. I was reminded recently of the care that is needed in using these powerful machines when I was held up by a lorry that was in my way – it was delivering pallets of building materials and underwent a similar exercise to the one you were describing. If there had been but one tiny mistake it could have been devastating not just to the materials and machinery but to the men who were assisting the delivery.
Rushing things in our nowadays workplaces is very common and looks like the way to be at work. But when we look a little deeper, rushing things does not really support us in delivering the quality we would like to bring in our work as in the rushing we are not able to give ourselves in full but only a functional part like a machine.
I like the way you use the metaphor of a crane to show us that all of our actions are magnified after we have expressed these. They can either heal or harm dependant on our inner state and level of responsibility we live.
It is very obvious that a crane driver has the hugest responsibility for not only the work he/she does, but for also the safety of all those around the crane site. But when you think about it, we all have that same responsibility when we are at work, no matter what our job. We have a responsibility to the work we do, to the people we work with, our clients, our customers and then to those we return home to, making sure we leave the issues of work behind us. Life and work cannot be separated as they are both parts of the whole of our life; a life that we are totally responsible for.
Gentle precision… this to me feels the way to go with our movements, at work and with everything we do. Behind it lies purpose and quality.
The importance of being present and not rushing is brought out in this beautiful blog thank you Adrienne.
A very practical example of how a quality of energy can play out in our lives, and that we have a choice on how that happens.
It’s a great point about how rushing can actually slow us down rather than save time. Not that we can’t pick up the speed in which we’re doing something but if we go into a ‘rushing’ way about it rather than being focused and present with what we’re doing then it’s a bit of a false economy.
The delicacy and precision you describe here is beautiful. It reminds me what is possible with these qualities and how it feels at the end of a day of delicacy and precision in action..
I love this, it is such a gorgeous description; ‘I got to feel how it works: slow, purposeful, unhurried, and focussed. It lifted large heavy items, gently and precisely placing them where they needed to go. This to me was beauty in motion.’
It is a gorgeous description, and makes me want to watch a crane next time I see one.
I love the title of this; ‘Elegance and Purpose – At work’, It makes me realise that so often we can work in a stressed and driven way and how unloving this for us and those we work with. Working in a steady, gentle and purposeful way feels great and can allow for more joy and harmony at work.
Recently I have had the privilege to spend time with working police officers on the job, their essence of purpose and commitment to the community they serve is super inspiring.
I can feel the grace and connection of you in your writing and the purpose of the cranes you see, reflects your own purpose in life.
Moving or walking with a divine purpose builds a rhythm that we can take with us every-where we go and even to our grave so our next incarnation will deliver the same divine movements and purpose.
As you confirm here elegance and purpose can be found in the most surprising places.
Purpose and elegance are possible when there is a connection with ourselves that we move with in life.
Our bodies are much like the crane in that whatever quality of energy we are aligning to we magnify through our bodies, through our movements and this is what we bring to our living day. We all hold the responsibility of the quality in which we are choosing to live, one we either choose to embrace or reject – either way the responsibility remains as does the impact of how we choose to respond to it.
Yes so every moment counts and every choice is crucial. I love this reminder.
Great article Adrienne, and I can now feel a completely different way of appreciating my every movement in the most bird like way as I envisage the methodical way a Crain goes about collecting food. So is it any wonder Those huge crain’s need to be Tenderly and Purpose-full operated in every-way reflecting or mirroring the elegance of the natural way a Crain Lives.
Such a beautiful reflection of the responsibility we all have to ensure we move with elegance and purpose throughout our daily lives.
In your example of the crane we can easily see how our large movements are magnified and the potential for disaster is very obvious in this situation. If the crane driver was in a push and stress to get the job done, then the clanking, roughness and disorder would be so apparent. Yet, in our daily lives we don’t see the potential for disaster in our smaller movements when we push and drive to get the housework done, that document sent out to our boss or the tension we send that email in. All of these have an impact on our body and affects those around us.
Without true purpose at work we become bored and easily distracted, far wiser to feel God’s purpose in what you we do then nothing becomes a bore in-fact when we work with the purpose of God everything becomes so very meaningful and interesting.
So often we take for granted the jobs people do and all that is required to do that job, I mean you have to admire the crane operator for actually being able to climb all those steps just to get to work each day. Not for the faint hearted!
Adrienne, You are offering us a great reminder and stop with this analogy with the work of the cranes. True, rushing seems to get things done, but in the end we are left exhausted and the quality of our work is not what it should be, in effect it is truly harming for everyone involved and beyond.
Yes Annelies, it looks so normal in our today’s working environments in which rushing is commonplace even to the extent that people victory when they are quicker than anyone else.
Elegance and purpose how we can be in life and seeing a crane is such a great way to see how it in fact operates, there are no small ripples or tasks, everything impacts well beyond that first move, so if we did indeed live moving with that care, dedication and purpose like a crane driver, it would change our lives, and reveal the truth of the responsibility that we all carry, for every move we make impacts all around.
[…] Related Reading: There is honour in every job Am I in the right job? Elegance and Purpose – At Work […]
Maybe there is a right flow to everything so that things get done with due love care and attention in a timely way, synchronised with everything else being constellated at the same time, if we feel into it.
A beautiful analogy for the fact that every one of our movements magnifies the quality we are in at the time. Anger magnified, joy magnified, control magnified, understanding magnified etc. This makes our responsibility very simple… we guarantee the quality and the rest is taken care of.
A great example of how everything matters and how it has a ripple effect on not just us but the whole environment. Taking that time to appreciate and enjoy the quality of stillness deep within us and moving from this as our foundation is deeply powerful.
What a gorgeous example of elegance in action, and how in fact that rush doesn’t speed things up at all, it slows things down and the quality is lost or dissipated everywhere … that would be disastrous with a crane and is in fact equally so on all of those smaller scales too, our movements matter, they ripple out into our lives and those of others, and the quality of how we move feeds us and all we touch.
With exquisite precision, the ‘hand of God’ is made manifest in all our daily workings.
Oh I love this and can feel the responsibility to bring this into the way I live and approach what I do. The first step is to ensure I have a relationship with my body that can recognise the difference between rush and no rush and the reflection of the crane is a beautiful visual reminder. I have no doubt I will see cranes whenever I forget this commitment to myself!
Reading your blog Adrienne, I am reminded of the importance of being observant of all that is occurring in and around me in my daily life, as everything is a reflection for me either to learn from or as a confirmation of a quality that I have already embraced in life.
I have had the pleasure today to witness a fantastic police officer going about his work with elegance and purpose.
Every member of the public he spoke to there was a dedication there to do the best for all.
We can find in all walks of life people who inspire us and are that steady refection throughout.
Great sharing Sam and it is amazing to receive these reflections and they are all around us if we are open to them. The power of reflection and inspiration support us all to evolve. God, places them everywhere around us.
Beautifully observed Adrienne.
In that we reflect to each other exactly what we need to see. This is why Every job carries the same responsibility.
And is equally important.
It is brilliant to consider that our bodies could be just as important in their movements as the crane on a construction site, with just as much responsibility and power, we are the ones who make everything happen.
It is true that a machine this big magnifies movements,. A great lesson here and it is relevant to bring it back to how we are in our day to day. Do we rush or do we allow the space and purpose in motion,
If we moved with the knowing all our movements effect everyone we would have purpose .. .. I love our symbolically objects on earth have a greater meaning we can reflect on.
What I have been understanding and learning is that work is not different to any other part of my day so true purpose is me bringing all the I am to everything in my life equally.
It is very true Natalie – everything we do, from how we live, work and breath requires a quality of energy to fuel our movements and it is our responsibility as to the quality of energy that is.